American Electric Power's stock soared 5.43% during intraday trading on Thursday, driven by the company's strong quarterly results and an ambitious expansion of its capital investment strategy to meet unprecedented electricity demand from data centers.

The utility reported fourth-quarter adjusted earnings of $1.19 per share, surpassing the analyst consensus estimate of $1.15. Revenue for the quarter reached $5.31 billion, also beating expectations of $4.89 billion. Beyond the earnings beat, the company announced it would expand its five-year capital expenditure plan beyond the previously outlined $72 billion.

AEP has doubled its signed agreements to supply power to data centers since October, now totaling 56 gigawatts, with an additional 180 gigawatts requested. The company identified $5 billion to $8 billion in additional transmission and generation projects to support this surge in demand, which is largely driven by hyperscalers like Google, Amazon, and Meta to power AI-related tasks. CEO Bill Fehrman stated AEP is "exceptionally well positioned for the future" to execute the large-scale infrastructure projects needed.